Survey of Nigerian University Student Affairs Services: a Comparison of Students\u27 Perceived Service Importance and the Students\u27 Level of Satisfaction

Problem. Nigerian university student-affairs serviceshave been characterized by negative campus activism, violent demonstrations, and the destruction of lives and properties, the result of which led to the closing down of many Nigerian universities. Thus far, little empirical data exist regarding the student personnel servicesavailable to students at Nigerian universities, the importance of student-affairs services, or the level of student satisfaction with these services. Methods. A quantitative survey methodology was used to assess 35 student-affairs services. A developed and validated survey instrument, the Student ServicesQuestionnaire (SSQ), was administered to collect data from currently registered undergraduate and graduate students of both genders through each vice-president for student affairs and/or faculty members in six Nigerian universities. Nine hundred surveys were sent to Nigerian university students. Six hundred and seventy-three (74.8%) completed questionnaires were returned. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t tests, analysis ofvariance, and the Student-Newman-Keuls. Results. Overall, students\u27 responses indicated that students perceived most services as highly important. In all six institutions, 25 out of the 35 services were highly rated as important. Conversely, studentsgenerally indicated that they did not experience a high level of satisfaction with these services. Only religious services was rated as a moderately satisfactory service. Comments from 655 students validated theempirical data indicating that most services are perceived as important and needed but with no satisfaction. Conclusions. Based on this study, the Nigerian university students attach a high level of importance to student services but generally have low levels of satisfaction with these services. (1) Very little difference exists between male and female students on perception either importance or satisfaction. (2) No difference exists between academic status on view of importance. (3) Younger students have higher levels of satisfaction than do older students. (4) Students at the religiously affiliated university have higher levels of satisfaction than those at secular universities. Thus, educating the total person is possible only when a student\u27s learning takes place in a conducive atmospheric environment, where life\u27s basic amenities such as food, shelter, security, love, and other physiological and psychological needs are being met

Quest For State’s Creation in Nigeria: An Harbinger of Development Or Underdevelopment?

Since Nigeria’s independence from Britain in 1960, there have been continuous calls for creating more "new" states within Nigeria to provide administrative voices for minority ethnic interests as well as increased networks for patronage. Beginning with three four regions prior to the Nigerian Civil War (1966-70), the Nigerian Federation was later divided into 12 states in May 1967. The federation grew to 19 states by March 1976, 21 states plus a new federal capital territory at Abuja by 1987, 30 states by August 1991 and 36 states by 1996. Creating more states out of a constant land area can be seen as an attempt on one hand to blur the country's regional, ethnic and religious distinctions and on the other, to create additional "patronage fiefdoms" which cut into regional power bases of traditional political elites. This study examines the seemingly implacable and intractable agitation for the creation of new states in Nigeria through a descriptive study analysis of the performance or otherwise of the existing states within the Nigerian federation. The study finds that there is no need for the creation of additional states as this will only serve as an additional avenue for the country’s ruling elite, without grassroots inputs, to milk the country dry

Currency Exchange Forecasting Using Sample Mean Estimator and Multiple Linear Regression Machine Learning Models

In recent time, there is an increasing growth in the amount of trading taking place in the currency exchange market. However, effective analysis and simulation tools for performing accurate prediction of these exchange rates are lacking. To alleviate this challenge, this work presents a hybrid machine learning and prediction model by suitably combining the Sample Mean Estimator (SME) simulation architecture with the multiple linear regression technique-based training of feed-forward parameters. The developed model has the capability to overcome prediction inaccuracy, inconsistent forecasting, slow response due to computational complexity and scalability problems. The SME method is used to overcome the problems of uncertainty and non-linearity nature of the predictive variable as it’s always affected by economic and political factors. The implementation of the proposed currency exchange rate forecasting system is achieved through the use of a developed in-house Java program with Net Beans as the editor and compiler. Performance comparison between the present system and two baseline methods which are the Autoregressive Moving Average and the Deep Belief network techniques demonstrates that the present forecasting model out-performed the baseline methods studied. The experimental result shows that the precision rate of the present system is equal to or greater than 70%. Therefore, the present foreign exchange predictive system is capable of providing usable, consistent, efficient, faster and accurate prediction to the users consistently at any-time

The 2001 ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy in Light of Recent Developments in the Sub-Region of Africa

This article, sourcing data from documentary sources and adopting descriptive and historical methods of data analysis, examines the most comprehensive and ambitious of the West African statesmen’ attempts at regionalizing democracy—the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. Specifically, it assesses member states’ performance with regard its provisions, in the light of contemporary realities. It argues that this framework and its precursors, when viewed against the background of their emergence, are another defensive strategy by West African leaders, in concert with the ‘development’ partners, to disguise the contradictions in the sub-region’s democratization process. It concludes that what Africa needs, to ensure peace and stability is a model of democracy that guarantees inclusiveness and popular participation in development policies

Management of Polluted Soils by a White-Rot Fungus: Pleurotus pulmonarius

There has been increasing interest in the application of organisms and nutrients to contaminated soils for effective degradation of oil. The white-rot fungus Pleurotus pulmonarius was investigated for its ability to mycoremediate polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metal content in cement and battery wastes polluted soils. The effect of the incubation periods on the contents of cement and battery polluted soil incubated with P. pulmonarius after six and ten weeks was determined.A general increase in the carbon, organic matter, phosphorus and potassium was observed while a decrease in percentage nitrogen, calcium and pH was observed after 6 and 10 weeks. The heavy metal content of the two polluted soil showed that lead (8 ppm) was constant at 6 and 10 weeks while significant decrease in copper, manganese and nickel was observed in cement contaminated soil. However there was a gradual decrease in lead content of batter polluted soil while copper was not utilized at all. The polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) also decreased from 6.86 in control to 0.56 after 10 weeks of incubation. All of these results show that the cement polluted soil was effectively remediated by the white-rot fungus

Hydrolytic Degradation of Nylon-6 by Pseudomonas aeruginosaHE858284 Isolated from Solid Waste Dumpsites in Lagos State, Nigeria

Polyamide-6 (also known as nylon-6) is one of the biodegradable-resistant synthetic polymers used in the manufacturing of commodity plastic materials. The environmental effects of the persistence of this material in landfill pose a global problem of disposal system. Knowledge of the microbial pattern of interaction with this plastic will provide the biological resources and scientific basis for the development of sustainable disposal and treatment method. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (HE858284), one of the bacterial isolates from Solid Waste dumpsites that were screened for their ability to utilize ?-caprolactam (the monomer of the nylon-6) as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen for growth and identified base on 16SrDNA gene sequences was tested for nylon-6 degradation. Intermediate products in the culture medium were monitored using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) while biodegradation of the nylon-6 was monitored using Fourier Transmittance Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), average number molecular mass (Mn) and weight loss. An un-inoculated experiment served as the control. Data obtained were analysed using ANOVA. The HPLC analysis of the culture supernatant revealed the presence of 6-aminohexanoic acid, ?-caprolactam and some un-identified oligomers as the degradation products of the nylon-6 fibre. The changes observed in the FTIR spectra of different functional group confirmed the effect of microbial degradation of the nylon-6 fibre. The degradation potential of 12.82 % reduction in Mn and 5.23% weight loss within 90 days was recorded in this Pseudomonas aeruginosa (HE858284).These changes were found to be significant at p = 0.05. This ability in the bacteria isolate from solid waste dumpsites will serves as baseline information for the bio-treatment of the nylon-6 polymer. Key words: Nylon-6, ?-Caprolactam , Solid waste dumpsite, Microbial degradation, 16SrRNA

Determinants of Capital Adequacy of Nigerian Banks

A reliable banking system in developing economies like Nigeria is vital for economic progress as it facilitates the flow of funds to productive investment sectors. The capital adequacy requirement of banks is a crucial feature of the stability of the banks globally. Because of its importance, we have examined the antecedents to capital adequacy. We have used the data set of ten leading banks of Nigeria from 2007 to 2017. Our results indicate that ROA and loan to total assets are significantly associated with capital adequacy. However, we found that nonperforming loans and size are negatively associated with the capital adequacy. Our results do not support the association between macroeconomics variables and capital adequacy. Therefore, we recommend that all banking entities should reserve sufficient cash and cash equivalents as a percentage of deposits and apply aggressive risk management practices to reduce the magnitude of nonperforming loans. This study was restricted to one country. Future studies can be carried out in other countries. A comparative data set of more than one country may bring further insight into the phenomenonKeywords: Capital adequacy ratio, banks-specific determinants, macroeconomic determinants, Nigeria

Tensile and Water Absorbing Properties of Natural Fibre Reinforced Plastic Composites from Waste Polystyrene and Rice Husk

This paper presents a study on the development of Natural fibre reinforced plastic composite from the waste polystyrene and rice husk, a new class of composites consisting of polystyrene based resin reinforced with rice husk fibre. Four different sets of polystyrene/rice husk composites were fabricated with addition of 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt% of rice husk particulates. Tensile and water absorbing properties of these composites were evaluated as per ASTM standard. Tests for water absorption were performed by immersing the samples in a bath of distilled water at room temperature and water uptake was measured gravimetrically along the process. It was observed that young modulus, force at peak, percentage water absorbed and diffusion coefficient of the composite increased while elongation at peak force decreased with addition of rice husk in the PBR matrix. The highest values of young modulus, force at peak, diffusion coefficients and elongation at peak force at 40 % rice husk content are: 365 N/mm2, 562 N, 1.77E-04 mm2/s and 0.76 % respectively. The recycled rice husk in combination with the PBR has produced plastic composite with moderate tensile and water absorbing properties applicable in various application

Response surface modelling and optimisation of biodiesel production from Manilkara Zapota L. seed oil

724-729Biodiesel production from non-edible oils is one of the prominent research avenues being exploited in recent times to achieve energy and environmental sustainability. The aim of this study is to model and optimise the production of biodiesel from the reaction of ethanol with Sapota (Manilkara Zapota L.) seed oil using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as catalyst. A quadratic response surface model has been developed and validated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals that the model is significant. The standard deviation is 3.76% and the coefficient of determination (R2) is 0.8438. Numerical optimisation reveal that the optimal biodiesel yield of 89.57% can be achieved at an ethanol to oil molar ratio is 6.58, catalyst amount of 1.07 wt% and temperature of 64.77C. Parametric studies reveal that the yield of biodiesel initially increases with increasing ethanol-oil ratio and catalyst amount but drops off gradually beyond the region of optimality. Temperature has a slight positive effect on the process

Comparative evaluation of gene-set analysis methods

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple data-analytic methods have been proposed for evaluating gene-expression levels in specific biological pathways, assessing differential expression associated with a binary phenotype. Following Goeman and Bühlmann's recent review, we compared statistical performance of three methods, namely Global Test, ANCOVA Global Test, and SAM-GS, that test "self-contained null hypotheses" Via. subject sampling. The three methods were compared based on a simulation experiment and analyses of three real-world microarray datasets.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the simulation experiment, we found that the use of the asymptotic distribution in the two Global Tests leads to a statistical test with an incorrect size. Specifically, p-values calculated by the scaled <it>χ</it>²distribution of Global Test and the asymptotic distribution of ANCOVA Global Test are too liberal, while the asymptotic distribution with a quadratic form of the Global Test results in p-values that are too conservative. The two Global Tests with permutation-based inference, however, gave a correct size. While the three methods showed similar power using permutation inference after a proper standardization of gene expression data, SAM-GS showed slightly higher power than the Global Tests. In the analysis of a real-world microarray dataset, the two Global Tests gave markedly different results, compared to SAM-GS, in identifying pathways whose gene expressions are associated with <it>p53 </it>mutation in cancer cell lines. A proper standardization of gene expression variances is necessary for the two Global Tests in order to produce biologically sensible results. After the standardization, the three methods gave very similar biologically-sensible results, with slightly higher statistical significance given by SAM-GS. The three methods gave similar patterns of results in the analysis of the other two microarray datasets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An appropriate standardization makes the performance of all three methods similar, given the use of permutation-based inference. SAM-GS tends to have slightly higher power in the lower <it>α</it>-level region (i.e. gene sets that are of the greatest interest). Global Test and ANCOVA Global Test have the important advantage of being able to analyze continuous and survival phenotypes and to adjust for covariates. A free Microsoft Excel Add-In to perform SAM-GS is available from <url>http://www.ualberta.ca/~yyasui/homepage.html</url>.</p